Constitutional Oligarchy II

[Greenbeard]

You're not free if incumbents limit how much you can spend and who can spend it.

I asked this in the other thread but I don't think anyone responded: do you support vote-buying? Should candidates be allowed to cut checks to undecided voters in exchange for votes? Is there anything wrong, in principle, with directly buying an election? And would preventing that be an unacceptable infringement on freedom?

 

[Revere]

You're not free if incumbents limit how much you can spend and who can spend it.

I asked this in the other thread but I don't think anyone responded: do you support vote-buying? Should candidates be allowed to cut checks to undecided voters in exchange for votes? Is there anything wrong, in principle, with directly buying an election? And would preventing that be an unacceptable infringement on freedom?

You mean feeding Native Americans and giving them a ride the polls?

Making Medicaid funding deals with Senators to get their votes on Obamacare?

Who does this?

 

[Greenbeard]

You mean feeding Native Americans and giving them a ride the polls?

Making Medicaid funding deals with Senators to get their votes on Obamacare?

Who does this?

Is that a yes? Vote buying is or ought to be constitutionally protected "speech"? A necessary component of freedom?

 

[Revere]

You mean feeding Native Americans and giving them a ride the polls?

Making Medicaid funding deals with Senators to get their votes on Obamacare?

Who does this?

Is that a yes? Vote buying is or ought to be constitutionally protected "speech"? A necessary component of freedom?

It clearly is not.

Where are you headed with this?

Pols paying people to vote is the same as campaign contributions to pols?

Nuh uh.

 

[Greenbeard]

Where are you headed with this?

I'm trying to figure out what you actually believe. You've indicated that government restrictions on spending for political purposes are an affront to freedom. Now it appears that some restrictions on political spending are an affront to freedom.

 

[Revere]

If I want to spend $1M in ads saying Harry Reid is an asshole, someone in government should not be able to tell me I can't.

 

[Revere]

Where are you headed with this?

I'm trying to figure out what you actually believe. You've indicated that government restrictions on spending for political purposes are an affront to freedom. Now it appears that some restrictions on political spending are an affront to freedom.

Buying voters is not the same as independent free speech.

Corporations and individuals are already limited in terms of how much they can give to candidates directly. Citizens United did not change that.

 

[Charles_Main]

My point has not been partisan, it has been generic. Can you say the same?
Besides, if you were not willfully ignorant, you would see the difference in our two posts. I hope others read of the tactics being taught and see the dangers inherent in censorship, as reported in the OP article, linked.

I love your quote from Reagan.

You do realize how insignificant Deficits were then, compared to now right.

You do realize that our last 2 Deficits exceeded our total income right.

WAKE THE FUCK UP!

 

[Londoner]

When the Supreme Court makes a decision that centralizes and concentrates electoral power in corporate hands, we hear nothing from the Tea Party.

Why?

Because the Tea Party exists entirely inside the Right Wing Media universe. Every issue championed by the Tea Party comes from a corporate funded nexus of talk radio, television, and the blogosphere.

The Tea Party is an attempt by corporations to direct rage at the government, rather than themselves (the owners of government). Corporations have systematically captured and corrupted the regulatory and legislative process since 1980, i.e., they have replaced representative democracy with the lobbying state. Their singleminded agenda of cheap labor has destroyed the middle class. They created the Tea Party in order to direct rage away from themselves, so they could regain the White house and continue to destroy the very serfs who vote for them.

The Tea Party is an attempt to channel rage away from health insurance monopolies toward manufactured socialist demons.

The Tea Party is a successful attempt to manipulate well meaning idiots.

The Tea Party is a tragedy.

I remember when they fooled old people to protest health care on the grounds that Obama was coming after their Medicare. Don't they get it? The Right's sole goal for the last quarter century has been to dismantle Medicare and Social Security. If the GOP is successful, old people will die in the streets along with the poor.

Bless their souls, those well meaning Tear Partiers -- they know not what they do.

 

[Revere]

Obama did cut, and raise the cost of Medicare.

Government has been stealing from Medicare and Social Security. It's already insolvent.

Government deserves all the rage it gets right now.

 

[Ringel05]

My point has not been partisan, it has been generic. Can you say the same?
Besides, if you were not willfully ignorant, you would see the difference in our two posts. I hope others read of the tactics being taught and see the dangers inherent in censorship, as reported in the OP article, linked.

If it wasn't partisan you would have addressed this issue from the center looking at both sides. You didn't hence your assertion doesn't hold water.

 

[Charles_Main]

The last few years have been like a family that earns 100k after taxes spending 250k a year.

When you add up all the debt, including states and municipalities, and all the future obligations you come to a figure so astronomical it will make your heart skip a beat.

If we do not get our fiscal house in order nothing else will matter. All our precious Rights will be meaningless. As no Country will be left to protect them.

 

[Si modo]

Where's that censorship that keeps being mentioned?

 

[Wry Catcher]

Where's that censorship that keeps being mentioned?

"Americans For Prosperity sponsors Tea Party workshop"

"Rightwing campaign funded by Koch brothers has funded seminar on how to exploit social media to attack politicians"

"Americans for Prosperity, the rightwing campaign funded in part by the energy billionaires the Koch brothers, is working with the Tea Party movement to increase its impact through the use of new media and social networking."

PLUTOCRACY Anyone?

Link to full article:
Americans For Prosperity sponsors Tea Party workshop | World news | The Guardian

Free speech?

For those too lazy or taking pleasure from their ignorance one more quote and an observaton:

"Pick your least favourite public official and beat the crap out of him every day," Telford told the audience. "It's fun, and people will start to notice and you will have a tremendous impact.

"The way to beat the left is to link more and more to one another and to link to articles that are in tune with our ideology and that will push the articles to the top of Google search."

GEE, sound familiar Si modo, you and the Echo Chamber do this with regularity. Posting idiotgrams as you and the others in your set do, is an effective way to censor debate.
If you can't debate, censor.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Si modo]

So, where's that censorship? I see free speech.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

So, where's that censorship? I see free speech.

Me too.

What about the "Alinsky" tactics being used here?

 

[Wry Catcher]

So, where's that censorship? I see free speech.

You maybe so dumb as to not get it.

 

[Si modo]

So, where's that censorship? I see free speech.

You maybe so dumb as to not get it.

You're calling free speech censorship. Sure. Right. That makes sense...


If one is as insane as you are.

 

[Wry Catcher]

So, where's that censorship? I see free speech.

You maybe so dumb as to not get it.

You're calling free speech censorship. Sure. Right. That makes sense...


If one is as insane as you are.

No, as usual you are 'putting words in my mouth I didn't say'. A very common method used by the echo chamber and one you perfected before they caught on and banned you from DemocaracyForums.

 

[KissMy]

You feel like you're more free if access to the policymaking apparatus is for sale?

So you would rather have congressmen steal tax dollars & payoff fraudulent voters & family members over $90 Million.

Democrat Russ Carnahan votes for $90 Million pay-off

Democrat Robin Carnahan ACORN$450,000 Pay-Off with Tax Dollars.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXBOgPCh9w"]Carnahan SEIU Union Thugs Beating a Black Conservative[/ame]

Obama Pays his Big Money Backer's BP & George Soros back with your tax dollars & Gulf drilling moratorium. BP & Soros owned large share of Brazil's Petrobras. Obama drove up Petrobras stock by investing Billions of tax dollars into Petrobras & banning USA Gulf Drilling.

This is a small taste of the kind of corruption Democrats bring to Government.